Daniel's TV Blog

Sunday, May 31, 2009

30 Rock - The Most Quotable of Quotables

Reaper

Yesterday I caught up on the last few episodes of Reaper on The CW. This wasn't renewed so the season finale was the series finale. I watched the last three episodes but I missed a couple before that which fell of the edge of my TiVo world due of over crowding. So I don't know how Sam's dad went from being the Zombie living in the garage freezer to being in the third circle of hell. It doesn't mater because he sent Sam a text message from hell and gave him a way to get out of his contract. Sadly the former gay demon turned gay angel betrayed Sam and he lost his ultimate showdown with the devil over a game of Quarters. Now his girlfriend Andi has lost her soul to the devil as well. I would love to know what the producers had in store for the rest of the series because I think Sam was going to be in the middle of the ultimate showdown between good and evil. Farewell Reaper, I'll mildly miss you.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Fake TV Shows

On the season finale of both SNL and the Family Guy they had jokes about fake show promos. Here's the Family Guy one from Hulu with the fake show Shovin' Buddies.

SNL had a whole skit with an identical joke about a fake show "Mark" that kept interrupting a sports talk show. Family guy went on to run this joke into the ground with "Crossed Armed Opposites" and "Slowly Rotating Black Man". This reminded me of some great fake TV shows.

On an old episode of Married: With Children, Peg got the Fall Preview issue of TV guide and read the show descriptions. The only one I remember was "Nunsense" which I think stared Suzanne Somers as a nun getting into crazy adventures.

On an episode of the Simpsons, the family watched a series of bad TV show based around catch phrases. These included "Talk to the Hand!" and "Don't Go There!".

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Reality Show Round Up

There are a surprising amount of reality show starting up or returning right now. Here are some you should watch, consider, and avoid

Watch them!Kathy Griffin: Life on the D List - Returns 6/8/9 on Bravo. This show has taken home the Emmy for best reality show two years in a row. It's funny and some times heart wrenching. I can't wait to see what crazy antics Kathy gets up to this year!Exhibition Africa - 5/31/09 History Channel - A group of survivalist trek across the African wilderness with no backup support. It looks to be full of challenges and cool wildlife.Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood - yesterday on Oxygen - I really enjoyed last season. At the Bravo awards Tori thanked all the people who make fun of here like Chelsey Handler. She is a good sport.Tosh.0 - 6/4/9 on Comedy Central - A new weekly clip show which discusses and shows the best stuff from the Internet. VH1 had a show like this a while ago. I wonder what happened to that?Kendra - 6/7/9 on E! - Girl Next Door Kendra has moved out of the Playboy Mansion and is getting married to a football player. She is a total dimwit but I love her.Brooke Knows Best - 6/7/9 on VH1 - Season one was great and totally staged. When Hulk showed up at Spring Break I laughed my ass off. Plus her gay BFF is really cute.

Consider Them!Top Chef Masters - 6/10/09 on Bravo - Bravo does reality competition really well. I keep hearing good things about Top Chef. I might watch it this year.E True Hollywood Story - tonight on E - OK this isn't a new season since this seems to run continuously. But tonight is the 500th episode of THS. They are always entertaining.Real Housewives on New Jersey - two weeks ago on Bravo - I've only watch the Atlanta edition of Housewives but they get a lot of coverage on the clip shows so I think I might pick this one up.I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here - 6/1/9 on NBC. Two words: Sanjaya! He might be worth watching the horrible Heidi and Spencer for.Intervention - This Week on A&E - I watch this now and then. It gets really hard to watch after a while, especially after a few where people don't get better. Usually the alcoholics fail more often than the drug addicts. I've never seen anyone with a pot problem who needed intervention.Obsessed - This week on A&E - This new show from the producers of Intervention is about people with Obsession disorders. The first episode had two people with OCD. They both responded well to treatment. The hunky gay germaphobe even had his boyfriend move in and they got a German Shepherd. Dogs are a constant mess maker so this was huge for him. Good job!Wipeout - tonight on ABC - This show is always good for a laugh if not to just here the host say Big Balls every week.Charm School with Ricki Lake - Last week on VH1 - VH1 can really recycle its reality stars. Real Chance at Love and Rock of Love skanks compete for a very small cash prize. The last two seasons were great. Let's see how Ricki Lake does as Head Mistress.

Avoid Them!Denise Richards: It's Complicated - Bravo. She is so gross. I couldn't imagine watching one minute of this.Jon and Kate Plus Eight - Returned Monday on TLC. Isn't it convenient that all the affair rumors happened just before their show returned for a new season? She is such a controlling bitch I can't believe Jon hasn't killed himself already.The Little Couple - This week on TLC. Another LTC disaster. Newlywed little people try to cope in a big people world. Boring.Ice Road Truckers - 5/31/09 History - It's just how I want to spend my summer, watching truckers drive on a series of frozen lakes in the dead of a north Canadian winter to deliver mining supplies.Hammertime - 6/14/09 on A&E. MC Hammer is back with a new reality show. Please spare us all.Tattoo Highway - 5/27/09 on A&E - I don't know why there are so many tattoo shows out there? This one has a tattoo artist traveling the country on his tattoo bus.Gene Simmons Family Jewels - 6/7/9 - Unless you are a KISS fan avoid the new season of the family that is trying to be the Osbournes.The Bachelorette - last week on ABC - While at the only motel stop on my California road trip, I turned into the first episode of the new Bachelorette last week. They picked the girl who made out with the loser in the top tub. That clip made all the rounds because it looked like he was penetrating her. She gets to choose from 30 losers on her own. The big problem is none of them are from her home town of Vancouver, BC so someone will have to move if things work out. But they never do.

Life After People

My favorite non-fiction show right now is Life After People on the History Channel. This was based on an award winning special from last year. Unlike some reality shows, this is truly a docu-series. Each week they pick a vague topic and one or two cities to follow into a future of life on the planet if all the people just vanished or died out at the same time. Last night the topic was historical icons and the city was San Francisco. We got to see computer simulations of cable cars crashing down the hills after their cables snapped, the Golden Gate bridge rusting and falling into the bay, ships breaking loose from their moorings and sinking, and sections of the Bay Bridge getting overgrown with vegetation and becoming new peninsulas over time.

Secondly they conjectured how long it would take for light and air to penetrate the case for the Declaration of Independence and the Mona Lisa. Nearby a fully cracked Liberty Bell would be swallowed by the new forest. In Paris, Notre Dame would be the last structure standing in the city. And eventually the jungle would reclaim the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

The other great thing they do each episode is visit a place in the world that has been abandoned for many years. In the original movie, they went to the towns abandoned after Chernobyl. Last night they went to a town in Pennsylvania that had to be abandoned because of an underground coal mine fire that was dumping toxic fumes into the town. The government bought up the town in the 80's an now there is little evidence left that there was a town there.

Please add this to your TiVo or DVR. It is a fascinating show. Next week we get to see Las Vegas get buried by the desert.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Daniel's review of the 2009 new fall shows

Last week all the networks announced their new fall season. Here is my evaluation of their new shows.

CBS - They have a small batch of new shows. I never really watch anything on this network anyway.Three Rivers - A medical drama about a transplant hospital. I'm not a big fan of hospital dramas so I won't be watching this.Accidentally on Purpose - The only new CBS comedy. It's kinda like the movie Knocked Up but with an older women with a younger guy. It's a total chick fantasy and it reinforces my belief in the need for cheaper abortions.NCIS: LA - Well it's NCIS but in L.A. Is there a lot of naval investigations to be had in L.A.?The Good Wife - The wife of a scandal deposed Senator goes back to work at a law firm after her husband goes to jail. I like lawyer shows but this just looks boring. Why would she go work at such a cut throat firm? There are lots of smaller single-mom friendly places she should go work for especially with the connections she has as a Senator's wife. Fake office tension is one thing I cannot suspend my disbelief for.

CW - The beautiful network has a trio of beautiful people shows including one with beautiful in the title.Melrose Place - I watched the old Melrose Place at the beginning and then again in the end. I was looking forward to this until I heard the talentless and useless Ashlee Simpson was part of the cast. She is on my boycott list.The Beautiful Life - "He thinks he's one of the Models, Inc!" Marisa from The OC plays one of the models in new beautiful ensemble cast of models. It will fit in perfectly on the CW.The Vampire Diaries - Really? Do we need a new vampire show every year? Moonlight then True Blood. Now a teen romance vampire show on the CW. I can't stand it.

ABC - They are really trying for a new hit comedy. They have four to choose from all on the same night. Let's see if any of them stick to the wall.Shark Tank - A new reality show where inventors and innovators bring their ideas to a group of five real life investors. This looks like could be quite interesting but filled with lots of super embarrassing situations. For that reason I won't be watching it.The Forgotten - A group of amateur crime fighters get together to solve crimes the police don't have resources for. It could be a cool crime solving alternative.Hank - Frasier plays fired executive who has to downsize and spend time with his family.The Middle - The Janitor from Scrubs plays a dad with a middle class family in the middle of America (Indiana). I can't think of the last successful family comedy so I'm hope this makes it.Modern Family - Another family comedy about an over scheduled modern family. The online clip was all about scheduling a time to administer corporal punishment to the son. "It's on the calendar now, you can't complain about it." Maybe, I don't know.Cougar Town - Monica from Friends plays a older women trying to date younger men. Didn't Courtney Cox marry a much younger man?Eastwick - Remember the old timey movie The Witches of Eastwick? It's back in pog form. And in TV show form. I'll watch it.Flash Forward - I'm always worried about shows that look so awesome in the upfronts. They never work out. So in this time bending drama, the entire world blacks out for two minutes and sees a vision of their near future. I'm worried that this will be super cool and then get canceled and we'll never know what it's all about. I'm still looking forward to this the most.

Fox - Not much new from Fox. But they are full up on winner right now so they are good.The Cleveland Show - This was initially a mid-season replacement from last season. Cleveland from The Family Guy moves to Virginia and marries his high school sweetheart. Looks awesome.Glee - OMGYG! I'm so pissed that the pilot last week is all we get until the fall. This show was so good I was so expecting at least seven episodes this summer. I guess being pissed they produced an awesome show isn't too bad.Brothers - A family comedy with Black people. One was a former NFL player. I'll pass.

NBCThe Jay Leno Show - Really? Every night? Mon-Fri? I never thought a entire network could jump the shark, but it looks like NBC might just have. I can see three nights a week, but all five? WTF?Trauma - A high octane drama about trauma paramedics in San Francisco. It might be good if there are some hot paramedics.Parenthood - Since ABC is making Eastwick, NBC is resurrecting an old 80s movie into TV form. That movie was great because of the cast, who knows if this will capture the magic.Community - A comedy about a study group at a community college. With the Soup and Seattle native Joel McHale and the awesome Chevy Chase this show is sure to be a hit. It looks like the funniest show of the fall. I always say the funniest shows come from NBC. Expect Arrested Development.

I'm skipping the mid-season shows. Some which look promising. I may come back to them in a future post.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

New Cancelled Shows

With the new fall schedules announced this week, many shows have now been officially cancelled here are the ones I watch.

Reaper - No big loss. It never lived up to the hope of comedy-fantasy goodness. I never really cared for most of the characters other than Sam.

King of the Hill - This is a but of a surprise. I dropped this show years ago but recently picked it up again last year. I guess 13 seasons is still very respectable. Fox ordered two more episodes to give the show a proper finale which I think is awesome.

Prison Break - After four season this show had played out. One season to break out, one on the run, a third to break out of the Panama jail, and the fourth to...bring down a powerful quasi-government agency? This show still brings in good action and suspense. I have the last few episodes waiting for me on TiVo which I'll get to next week. The producers knew this was the last season so they will close up the show properly.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - I enjoyed this show. It ended with a cliffhanger where John Connor goes into a future without him and meets his father who is the resistance leader. They did some good history rewriting storylines and I'll miss it.

Kath & Kim - This cancelation perplexes me. This show started slow but thanks to great acting and great characters it quickly grew on me. When Kath ran out on her lawn and shouted that Wynonna Judd was coming to her house, I was forever a fan. Too bad forever was only 17 episodes.

Life - At least most of the mystery of who framed Charlie Cruise was explained in the finale. This was a great quicky cop show with fantastic writing and wonderful characters.

My Name is Earl - This really pisses me off. NBC pulled the plug on this after four seasons. I think this was the best season yet. Once again, this show is great because of the fantastic set of characters unlike anything seen elsewhere on television. Who thought we would all fall in love with a group of white trash ex-thieves who live in a trailer park or motel and hang out at a bar called The Crab Shack? The show ended with a cliffhanger: who is Earl Jr's father? We thought it was crabman, but DNA test says no. At lease it turns out Earl is Dodge's father. He and Joy had sex at a Halloween party so neither remembered it when they met six months later and she tricked him into marrying her. I'll miss this show, but it might come back.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Friday at 9:00

OK so I'm still trying to fully parse out and understand the new fall season announced this week. It doesn't help that I'm still on the road and don't have a consistent schedule. PS, tomorrow I have 10.5 hours of driving, ugh! But there is one pattern I have noticed: Friday at 9:00. Every network has moved one of the shows I watch to Friday at 9:00. Well, FOX already had Dollhouse at that time slot and that is currently the only show I watch then. But in addition to Dollhouse (which I'm very happy was renewed) there is:

Southland on NBC. Moved from Thursday at 10 for the nightly Jay.

Medium on CBS. Transfer from NBC. This show makes more sense on CBS anyway but pairing it with The Boob Whisperer seems a bit much.

Ugly Betty on ABC. Are they trying to kill this show? It had such a great Thursday night time slot at 8:00 which is perfect for comedies. They are replacing it with Flashforward. Although that does look really cool, a time twisting mystery drama does not belong at 8:00 on Thursday.

Since I had to drop Betty this year thanks to the DISH vs. KOMO battle, I'll probably drop that show altogether now. It's season finale is tomorrow. I won't be watching. Southland is one of my new favorite shows.

Idolopotamus

American Idol ends tonight. I haven't been so into a season ever. I watched last year and I didn't really care which one of them one. This year I really want Adam to win. Of course Kris is much hotter but he's married. Adam is clearly the better singer of the two. I don't think Simon has even said anything negative about him. I think Simon said once he was the best singer they've ever had in eight seasons. But he won't win. The fundies like O'Rielly spent the last few days stirring up their base making them think if Adam won it would be a referendum for gay rights in the country. And the biggest loser in this game is Kris. He is going to win a competition he doesn't deserve and never achieve the success he should as the season eight winner. On the other hand, Adam will achieve the same success whether he wins or not. I feel bad for Kris.

Space Olympics

The first time I watched this SNL digital short last fall, I found it a mildly amusing spoof of the Olympics. They needed to do something since that swimmer guy was the host. But my friend Awesome Gary had me watch it again over the weekend and I now appreciate the genius of it.

Glee...Watch It!

There's so many things I love about the new FOX Glee. I watched it this morning on Hulu since my friends I'm staying with in San Francisco didn't want to watch it. This is the great high school comedy that has been missing from the world. It is not afraid to be completely outrageous and totally inappropriate. Also as you can expect with a show about a glee club, it's completely gay. There's the requisite gay member. Also the overly ambitious bitchy girl has two gay dads. And there was the hot guy singing naked in the shower scene. Very sexy.

And what good teenage show is there without good antagonists. Unlike what you would expect, it's not the football team that gets all the respect and funding, it's the cheer squad. Their coach is the remarkably diabolical Cindi Lightballoon. Also the football team doesn't like them. Even the principle wants them to fail. But of course they all sound good together and you can buy their songs on iTunes each week. I bought Don't Stop Believing and listened to it twice while writing this blog post.

The hot football player singer laid it out perfectly. This school and town are filled with losers. He just wants to be the loser that enjoys what he does. It makes for great television.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

LOST 5.14 - I'm Getting Kinda Used To Insane

I'm trying to get back into my blogging mode, starting with the last episode of LOST. I watched "The Variable" again last night. It has lots of answers, lots of action, and of course lots of more questions. Also I have some new theories about how time travel works on the island. I think that The Others who have some sort of communion with the island are not allowed to change time. In fact they are caretakers of time. This is evidenced with Eloise's interaction with Desmond in the 90's. Also she and Widmore sent there son to the island to be killed. Or if he is not dead yet, then at least shot and hurt badly. However non-others can alter the course of history, as long as it isn't involving an Other. Daniel met with Desmond and he didn't remember it when he first met Daniel. That's because Daniel hadn't done it yet. However it gets tricky because it should have propagated during their respective timelines. Daniel altered the past within a day of Ben turning the Frozen Donkey Wheel. So Desmond should have had the memory arrive in his brain during the week he and the Oceanic Six were on The Searcher, not three years later while he is living on the sailboat. Maybe Daniel realized this somehow and that's why he changed his mind about changing the past. Alternatively, Daniel may have realized that the past can't be changed and he needs to be a part of it. He told everyone what they needed to head in order to get them to do the things they had to do. He did mention that he was getting Chang to do what he needed to do and that's why he spilled the beans about him and Miles. And Jack and Kate have their role to play. The only way to motivate Jack is by making him think he can restructure his last three years. Only he would have motivation to do so. Everyone else kinda has a better like because of the crash. Except for the dead people. And if Daniel really thinks he can change the past, why would he talk to young Charlotte when he promised himself he never would?

So here's what we learned:

Widmore did fake the 815 discovery

Ellie from 1954 and Eloise are the same person

Widmore is Daniel's father

Daniel has been working at Dharma headquarters in Ann Arbor

Desmond is going to make a full recovery

And the new questions:

Why didn't Daniel know Widmore was his father?

Why did Daniel walk into the Other's Camp with a gun instead of just surrendering?

Why exactly did Daniel decide one could change the past?

How does Daniel think Eloise can help get the Oceanic Six back to the future?

How did he when Chang was going to arrive at The Orchid?

When did Eloise leave the island?

Was Daniel born on the island?

Why is Radzinsky so incredibly paranoid? I think he on Tina.

Why does he have his own personal henchmen when James is head of security?

Episode 15 is tonight with the 2 hour season finale next week. Also, the title of this entry is not only a quote from Jack, it's kinda my life right now.

About Me

I love TV. Movies are great but there's so much more story and character development that can be accomplished in episodic television. Since I started unwittingly studying television over 25 years ago I've noticed many patterns and advancements. I will share my views, opinions, and TV news several times a week. Please leave your own comments.